Chapter 143: Black Gold Base
It wasn’t a surprise to Xia Lu Nong and the others that Mai Dong’s group didn’t like the Black Gold Base.
If they had liked it, they probably wouldn’t be living on its outskirts.
Mai Dong and his friends described the Black Gold Base in great detail, but Xia Lu Nong still found it hard to imagine what such a place would be like.
The next morning, they got up early and drove their truck toward the Black Gold Base.
To their surprise, the base’s management was unexpectedly lax.
They had been worrying about how to sneak in, but to their astonishment, the base required no identification—just a supply check to gain entry.
Xia Lu Nong muttered under his breath, “Seems like Black Gold Base is quite confident.”
“That could be one reason,” Yan Xi Nian replied calmly. “Another possibility is that even if we gave them our real identities, they wouldn’t be able to verify them. Let’s stay cautious, though. Black Gold Base might look loose on the outside but could be much stricter inside.”
Xia Lu Nong nodded and looked out the truck window.
Unlike their base, many people walking the streets of Black Gold Base were wearing armor.
Various types of armor—leather, wood, metal, and even bone—were visible, with many also wearing helmets that concealed their faces.
In addition to the armor, many people bore visible animalistic traits, the most common being beast ears and tails.
Xia Lu Nong even spotted a few people dragging fish tails behind them.
He wondered if those tails ever dried out and what purpose they served.
He found these sights very peculiar.
Thanks to Mai Dong’s detailed teaching, Xia Lu Nong himself had learned to partially transform, and as he observed the people outside, he felt a sudden impulse. Fluffy cat ears appeared on his head, and his human ears vanished.
Kong Zhi noticed immediately.
Gently pressing Xia Lu Nong’s head, Kong Zhi said, “Stop messing around.”
Xia Lu Nong struggled to control his partial transformation. As his ears retracted, a large, fluffy cat tail emerged from behind him—characteristic of a long-haired cat.
The tail was big and bushy, and the long fur made his lower back itch.
He couldn’t resist wriggling, and the flexible tail popped out of his pants, sneaking into the open air. “Aren’t we supposed to blend in with the locals?” he joked.
Xia Huo Qu said, “There are all kinds of people here. You don’t need to imitate them. Do you want to put your tail on display?”
Xia Lu Nong wasn’t too keen on that idea and shook his head.
“Then tuck it back in. Your tail’s too noticeable and could make you a target,” Xia Huo Qu warned.
Xia Lu Nong reluctantly withdrew his tail.
But after having his tail out for just a short while, he now felt uncomfortable without it, like his pants were too empty.
Yan Xi Nian laughed at his discomfort. “You can mess around when we get back to the base.”
Xia Lu Nong replied, “When we get back, we should experiment and see what the difference is between using and not using partial transformation.”
“Sure, we’ll test it out when we return,” Yan Xi Nian said, turning the steering wheel. “For now, let’s find a safe spot to park the truck and then explore the area slowly.”
The Black Gold Base had several well-reviewed inns.
Given that the base was full of outlaws, any place with a bad reputation probably wouldn’t get much business.
Yan Xi Nian drove the truck without asking anyone for directions or heading to the inn Mai Dong had recommended. Before long, they found a large inn and parked nearby.
The inn had a large open area out front, packed with various vehicles, many of which were armored.
The sight of these armored vehicles startled Xia Lu Nong at first—he thought they were tanks.
Upon closer inspection, however, he realized there were notable differences, especially in the wheels and where the weapons protruded.
Xia Lu Nong murmured, “It seems we didn’t come here for nothing. These people are about ten years ahead of us.”
Yan Xi Nian replied, “We come from a small agrarian society. There’s no way we can compare to this. Our strengths lie elsewhere.”
Staring at the vehicles, Xia Lu Nong wondered aloud, “I wonder how the Fireseed Base is doing. Could their technology be even more advanced than this?”
“Definitely,” Yan Xi Nian said. “I haven’t heard of any flying machines here, but the Fireseed Base at least has aircraft.”
Xia Huo Qu cut in, “Stop chatting. Let’s check into the inn, drop off our gear, and then take a look around the streets. Seeing it firsthand will tell us what we need to know.”
At Xia Huo Qu’s prompt, the two stopped talking.
Each of them carried large backpacks. Aside from Xia Lu Nong, everyone’s pack contained four sealed bamboo tubes, while his pack held three.
In addition to their backpacks, Yan Xi Nian and Xia Huo Qu also carried sturdy-looking tote bags filled with food.
The inn they had arrived at was called the “Savage Beast Inn.”
A group of people stood guard outside the entrance.
As soon as they got out of the truck, someone approached them and asked, “Are you here to park or to stay?”
Yan Xi Nian replied, “Parking and staying. What are your rates?”
The middle-aged man who greeted them said, “It depends on what you’re using to pay. If it’s rice, parking is twenty pounds per day, and for lodging, a double room is twenty pounds per person per day. If you’re paying with beast meat, the price will depend on the meat’s grade.”
Yan Xi Nian smiled, “Are your measuring instruments accurate?”
The man replied, “Of course, they’re accurate! We’re running a business here, and we ensure fair deals. We can measure beast meat from level one to level five with no problem.”
Yesterday, Mai Dong had mentioned that the Black Gold Base could measure the energy contained in various mutated beasts. The levels range from one, the lowest, to five, the highest. Beasts with no mutation have no grade, but in these times, completely non-mutated beasts are virtually nonexistent.
Yan Xi Nian grinned, “Let’s check the grade of the beast meat we brought with us first. We’ll park the truck outside, and I trust you’ll keep an eye on it?”
“Sure, no problem. We have people watching over the lot. You see all those armored vehicles parked here?” the man said with a laugh.
Hearing this, Xia Lu Nong glanced at the parking lot filled with various armored vehicles. He quietly counted—there were twenty-seven in total. That was a significant number. It was unclear whether these vehicles belonged to the hotel guests or the hotel staff. Either way, it was a signal that they needed to be extremely cautious once inside.
After taking a brief look, Xia Lu Nong returned his gaze. The middle-aged man, noticing his curiosity, simply smiled and led them into the hotel.
Inside, the reception desk was staffed by two half-beast women. These women were tall, beautiful, and carried an aura more striking than many models from before the catastrophe. Whether they were working at the front desk as a side job or full-time wasn’t clear.
Xia Lu Nong, feeling slightly embarrassed to stare at their faces, shifted his gaze to their midsections. He quickly noticed that both of them had visible abs beneath their thin clothing, indicating they weren’t to be trifled with.
The receptionists didn’t seem to mind the group’s glances and explained the lodging rates with a smile.
Yan Xi Nian pulled a large bag of fish meat, cushioned with straw, from his tote. “Here’s over twenty pounds of fish meat. Can you check its grade? How would we go about paying with fish meat?”
“Of course, please wait a moment while we test it,” one of the receptionists said.
She took the fish meat and moved to a large metal device nearby. She opened the compartment, placed the meat inside, and pressed a button on the side. The machine began to hum, and anyone unfamiliar with it might have thought it was a microwave in action.
Xia Lu Nong curiously watched the process. He wondered when this device had been invented and whether people at Black Gold Base had noticed the subtle differences in energy among beast meats before the invention of the machine.
The receptionist smiled, “The test will take three to five minutes. In the meantime, please fill out this form.”
The hotel’s data collection process was quite perfunctory, merely asking them to note their beast forms and weapons before concluding the registration without any actual checks.
Xia Lu Nong thought to himself, “They talk about the place being strict on the inside, but it’s incredibly loose.”
He wasn’t sure if Black Gold Base simply lacked the capability to monitor all the different beast forms and special individuals or if they just didn’t care as long as these people didn’t cause trouble or enter restricted areas.
They quickly finished filling out the forms. Meanwhile, the testing device let out a “ding,” and a flat electronic voice announced, “Upon inspection, this meat is fish meat, grade three.”
Everyone heard the announcement.
Both the receptionist and the middle-aged man guiding them smiled even more warmly.
With her eyes squinting in a smile, the receptionist said, “If you pay with grade three fish meat, a double room costs half a pound per person per day, and parking costs half a pound per day.”
Yan Xi Nian nodded, “Let’s put the fish meat on the account for now. Can we exchange any leftover meat for other supplies when we check out?”
The receptionist replied, “Certainly. We can exchange it for grade two beast meat or various grains. If you’d like, we can also exchange it for Black Gold Coins.”
She added, “Our hotel offers exchange services for other items as well. We only charge a small handling fee, except for high-grade beast meat, which we exchange without any fees.”
Yan Xi Nian said, “Please leave five pounds of fish meat for us, and convert the rest into Black Gold Coins.”
“Sure, please wait a moment,” the receptionist replied. “The fish meat you provided weighs twenty-seven pounds and three ounces. At today’s rate, one pound of grade three meat is worth thirty Black Gold Coins. Would you like to proceed with the exchange?”
Yan Xi Nian nodded.
They didn’t plan to stay in the hotel for long. Once the meat was exchanged for coins, they planned to head out and explore. Carrying money would be much more convenient than carrying meat, and their spatial bamboo tubes were a closely guarded secret. If they carried meat in the tubes, it would be too easy to expose their secret.
The two receptionists hadn’t expected such a straightforward transaction and seemed even friendlier now. After taking their photos, they handed over the room keys with a smile and said, “Your room has hot water, heating, and internet.”
Before Xia Lu Nong could ask, the receptionist added, “It’s a local network. It contains a lot of information about Black Gold Base. Feel free to browse if you’re interested.”
